Sophie and A.
Last night I was sitting with A. by the log fire in Zan’s on a cold and misty Ramallah night. A. told me about his trip to Munich in 2003 and his visit to the little museum in the university dedicated to Sophie Scholl and her brother.
Sophie and her brother were students at Munich university in the early 1940s. They were from a comfortable family and had no particular reason (other than their humanity) to stick their necks out. They printed and distributed leaflets condemning the Nazis and were eventually caught, interrogated, tried and executed (http://www.sophieschollmovie.com/).
There is a visitors’ book in the museum which A. signed:
“For those who choose not to look the other way.
A Palestinian from Jenin.”
When A. was 15 most of the boys in his, and the surrounding villages, were rounded up by the IDF. There had been mass disobedience in the region recently including the raising of the Palestinian flag; drawing the Palestinian flag on walls; political graffiti and the cutting of phone lines to suspected informers.
A. was taken to an adult prison and interrogated and tortured for the next 59 days. In one instance, his hands were tied tightly behind his back with the wrists together using plastic ties. His arms were then raised up behind his back and he was hung by his wrists from a hook on the wall with his toes just touching the ground. A heavy sack was then placed on his head making it difficult to breathe. The guards then ensured that he could not sleep by poking him and playing loud music. He was left in this position for seven days straight with short breaks of a couple of minutes to eat.
Last night I was sitting with A. by the log fire in Zan’s on a cold and misty Ramallah night. A. told me about his trip to Munich in 2003 and his visit to the little museum in the university dedicated to Sophie Scholl and her brother.
Sophie and her brother were students at Munich university in the early 1940s. They were from a comfortable family and had no particular reason (other than their humanity) to stick their necks out. They printed and distributed leaflets condemning the Nazis and were eventually caught, interrogated, tried and executed (http://www.sophieschollmovie.com/).
There is a visitors’ book in the museum which A. signed:
“For those who choose not to look the other way.
A Palestinian from Jenin.”
When A. was 15 most of the boys in his, and the surrounding villages, were rounded up by the IDF. There had been mass disobedience in the region recently including the raising of the Palestinian flag; drawing the Palestinian flag on walls; political graffiti and the cutting of phone lines to suspected informers.
A. was taken to an adult prison and interrogated and tortured for the next 59 days. In one instance, his hands were tied tightly behind his back with the wrists together using plastic ties. His arms were then raised up behind his back and he was hung by his wrists from a hook on the wall with his toes just touching the ground. A heavy sack was then placed on his head making it difficult to breathe. The guards then ensured that he could not sleep by poking him and playing loud music. He was left in this position for seven days straight with short breaks of a couple of minutes to eat.
When A. was finally taken down he was then grabbed by the shoulders and shaken violently. The muscles in his neck were too tired to support his head which shook violently back and forth. This technique is well documented to have caused brain damage and death in a number of cases. A. was then taken away for further interrogation.
On another occasion he was placed in a “coffin” cell. As the name implies this is a tiny space in which you sit, in the dark, in sewerage and are deprived of sleep by the guard kicking the metal door with his steel capped boots. After two days in the cell he was released and taken for further interrogation.
Throughout the 59 days A. refused to provide his interrogators with any information. A. was eventually released at 3.00 am one cold morning hours before a delegation from the Red Cross was due to inspect the prison. It was discovered that A. had not been properly registered in the prison records in accordance with international standards. So, at 3.00 am the prison gates were opened and he was thrown out. He remembers begging with the guards not to release him in this way as there were many stray dogs roaming around outside – they didn’t listen to his pleas.
Eventually A. made it to a nearby village where he found help and a taxi ride the 40 km back to his family and village. When he arrived home he did not want to be hugged by his mother because he was embarrassed having not had a shower or change of clothes since he last saw her, 59 days earlier.
For years after this experience the slightest noise at night, such as a fork dropping in the kitchen, would wake A. up and cause him to stand up by his bed in a state of terror. This side effect has taken a heavy toll on A’s relationships as it apparently tends to be a frightening thing to witness.
The following year A. spent another 51 days in interrogation and a number of years later, four months in administrative detention. A. has never been charged or tried with any offence.
A. and I leave the comfort of Zan’s and the log fire at 4.00 am and step out into the cold, misty and deserted street outside. We walk the short distance to our homes through the quiet streets – the only people we are likely to meet at this time of the morning are Israeli soldiers - but all is quiet.
No comments:
Post a Comment